communication skill assessment

farl · 06-27-2005, 03:45 AM

I wonder how important the communication skill is rated by you players. I mean, the importance of most of the skills is obvious, e.g. the sword skill for combatants or the theology skill for priests, but how valuable is the communication skill and what is it really good for? Let me make some statements based on my observations to start with.

1. The communication skill affects the merchants' prices for buying and selling. But are there some hard numbers how much communcation really does on this? Is it a real save of money?

2. Communication should affect how NPCs/RPCs treats your party and if they answer your questions. I never noticed a difference in their behaviour to my different parties. I mean, when I meet them the first time, they are green dotted (friendly) and stay this way until I attack them or try to steal from them and get catched. Antone sometimes gets rough when I hassle him to much ("Listen, I am not your friend ..."), but IMHO this only adds some flavour to a talk with a Rapax. Otherwise, at keywords, each NPCs/RPCs give the same answers regardless of my current partie.

3. Communication determines the NPCs/RPCs attitude after an unsuccessful shoplift/pickpocket. I don't have enough experience with that, but my valkyrie made Burz friendly again (thus raising her poor communication skill, 15 or so), after he turned yellow dotted when catching my thief. Additionaly, this is the only way I know to raise the communication skill - a training combination of pickpocket, charm and diplomacy (communication).

4. When meeting an NPC/RPC the first time, there is a good chance for every party member to increase communication one point. But the number of NPCs/RPCs in this game are limited.

5. The bard gets a 25% bonus on her/his communication skill. Is it worth to put points in it when leveling up?

Scatter · 06-27-2005, 10:23 AM

Some NPC's volunteer information when Comms skill is higher, that you otherwise have to use keywords for, but that's not very important if you've already played through a few times.
Each merchant AI has its own sell/buy rates, modified by your Comms skill to whatever extent.

xfactor · 06-27-2005, 04:31 PM

Comms skill is, overall, a fairly useless skill. The benefits you gain from it are simply not high enough to warrant putting points into it at level up instead of something else.

xfactor

killerTeddy · 06-28-2005, 11:33 AM

I don't agree with you, xfactor. If i have a bard in my party, i usually spend some points at levelling up. If i remember correctly, without any communication skill merchants buy stuff at half the price they sell it for, but with a high enough skill you can double the money you get - i'd say thats definitly worth it! Except, if you have a hard-working alchemist, you won't have any money problems anyway (but i never took the time to mix that many potions).

BTW, this is my first post since half a year, hope i didn't miss too much in the meantime [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 06-28-2005, 11:37 AM: Message edited by: killerTeddy ]

xfactor · 06-28-2005, 04:52 PM

The problem I have with it is there's always something I'd rather invest the points in. Maybe with a Bard it might be worth it, but even then I'd still go for Music, Sword and Dual Wield (maybe Dagger).

I never really find money to be a major problem even without an Alchemist. As long as you make sure you only buy what you need you shouldn't run out. In fact, strangely enough, not having a Bard helps in that respect since some of the most expensive, and commonly found, items in the game are instruments.

xfactor

TinyMage · 06-28-2005, 08:29 PM

Pretty much the only thing communication is good for is the added money when you sell your items to vendors.

This just means you have to mix less potions.

As for actually putting points into the skill, I would say don't.

You can get a total of + 50 to communication from equipping items.

2 x blarnystone amulet + 20 ( dropped from rattkin, not too rare )
diamond eyes + 10

with around 60 - 70 in communication you will pretty much get full price for your potions from most vendors. So there is no reason to go higher in my opinion.

Having said that, when I have a bard I usually pump communication since its one of the hardest skill to powertrain, and I just like the idea of having it high.

killerTeddy · 06-29-2005, 04:23 PM

Oh! I never had two blarnystone amulets, this will come in handy for my new party (without a bard - only 4 specialists).

Thanks!

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06-27-2005, 03:45 AM	#1
farl Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: June 14, 2005 Location: Sankt Augustin, Germany Age: 66 Posts: 6	I wonder how important the communication skill is rated by you players. I mean, the importance of most of the skills is obvious, e.g. the sword skill for combatants or the theology skill for priests, but how valuable is the communication skill and what is it really good for? Let me make some statements based on my observations to start with. 1. The communication skill affects the merchants' prices for buying and selling. But are there some hard numbers how much communcation really does on this? Is it a real save of money? 2. Communication should affect how NPCs/RPCs treats your party and if they answer your questions. I never noticed a difference in their behaviour to my different parties. I mean, when I meet them the first time, they are green dotted (friendly) and stay this way until I attack them or try to steal from them and get catched. Antone sometimes gets rough when I hassle him to much ("Listen, I am not your friend ..."), but IMHO this only adds some flavour to a talk with a Rapax. Otherwise, at keywords, each NPCs/RPCs give the same answers regardless of my current partie. 3. Communication determines the NPCs/RPCs attitude after an unsuccessful shoplift/pickpocket. I don't have enough experience with that, but my valkyrie made Burz friendly again (thus raising her poor communication skill, 15 or so), after he turned yellow dotted when catching my thief. Additionaly, this is the only way I know to raise the communication skill - a training combination of pickpocket, charm and diplomacy (communication). 4. When meeting an NPC/RPC the first time, there is a good chance for every party member to increase communication one point. But the number of NPCs/RPCs in this game are limited. 5. The bard gets a 25% bonus on her/his communication skill. Is it worth to put points in it when leveling up?

06-27-2005, 10:23 AM	#2
Scatter Symbol of Cyric Join Date: August 17, 2003 Location: Portland Age: 65 Posts: 1,336	Some NPC's volunteer information when Comms skill is higher, that you otherwise have to use keywords for, but that's not very important if you've already played through a few times. Each merchant AI has its own sell/buy rates, modified by your Comms skill to whatever extent.

06-27-2005, 04:31 PM	#3
xfactor Dungeon Master Join Date: June 15, 2004 Location: UK Posts: 77	Comms skill is, overall, a fairly useless skill. The benefits you gain from it are simply not high enough to warrant putting points into it at level up instead of something else. xfactor

06-28-2005, 11:33 AM	#4
killerTeddy Dungeon Master Join Date: April 27, 2004 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Age: 46 Posts: 64	I don't agree with you, xfactor. If i have a bard in my party, i usually spend some points at levelling up. If i remember correctly, without any communication skill merchants buy stuff at half the price they sell it for, but with a high enough skill you can double the money you get - i'd say thats definitly worth it! Except, if you have a hard-working alchemist, you won't have any money problems anyway (but i never took the time to mix that many potions). BTW, this is my first post since half a year, hope i didn't miss too much in the meantime [img]smile.gif[/img] [ 06-28-2005, 11:37 AM: Message edited by: killerTeddy ]

06-28-2005, 04:52 PM	#5
xfactor Dungeon Master Join Date: June 15, 2004 Location: UK Posts: 77	The problem I have with it is there's always something I'd rather invest the points in. Maybe with a Bard it might be worth it, but even then I'd still go for Music, Sword and Dual Wield (maybe Dagger). I never really find money to be a major problem even without an Alchemist. As long as you make sure you only buy what you need you shouldn't run out. In fact, strangely enough, not having a Bard helps in that respect since some of the most expensive, and commonly found, items in the game are instruments. xfactor

06-28-2005, 08:29 PM	#6
TinyMage Dungeon Master Join Date: August 18, 2004 Location: USA Age: 45 Posts: 83	Pretty much the only thing communication is good for is the added money when you sell your items to vendors. This just means you have to mix less potions. As for actually putting points into the skill, I would say don't. You can get a total of + 50 to communication from equipping items. 2 x blarnystone amulet + 20 ( dropped from rattkin, not too rare ) diamond eyes + 10 with around 60 - 70 in communication you will pretty much get full price for your potions from most vendors. So there is no reason to go higher in my opinion. Having said that, when I have a bard I usually pump communication since its one of the hardest skill to powertrain, and I just like the idea of having it high.

06-29-2005, 04:23 PM	#7
killerTeddy Dungeon Master Join Date: April 27, 2004 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Age: 46 Posts: 64	Oh! I never had two blarnystone amulets, this will come in handy for my new party (without a bard - only 4 specialists). Thanks!

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